Date of Conferral

4-30-2025

Date of Award

April 2025

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Barbara Chappell

Abstract

The decline in human capital during the COVID-19 pandemic reflected local agencies’ and organizational policy responses to the pandemic. These policies could factor into why Americans, in recent years, have quit their jobs in record numbers. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore how employees perceived organizational culture and commitment during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study involved Meyer and Allen’s organizational commitment model, which identifies affective, normative, and continuous commitment as key dimensions of employee loyalty, and Ramdhani et al.’s organizational culture framework, which emphasizes communication, teamwork, and reward systems as core elements shaping workplace dynamics. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with eight employees using purposive sampling across various organizational sectors. Seven themes emerged from the thematic analysis that showed how the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted key organizational dynamics, the need for organizations to adapt their practices to meet remote work challenges, employee well-being, and shifting workplace priorities. Findings reinforced the need for organizations to create opportunities for relationship building in virtual or hybrid settings to sustain organizational commitment. Team-building activities or informal virtual check-ins may mitigate the relational gaps caused by remote work and preserve employees’ emotional connections to their teams and organizations. The implications for positive social change include the potential for organizational leaders to adopt evidence-based strategies derived from these findings to create healthier cultures and more productive workplaces that could benefit employees, their families, communities, and the broader economy.

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